Hello all,
I have add and was on adderall for a little over a year and a half. The entire time I was taking it I never felt that it was natural or good for me. I finally came to the conclusion that it would be more healthy for me to stop taking it as I was experiencing racing heart, irritability, agitation, etc. Moreso, it was a personal decision to stop all forms of unnatural dopamine releases (ie adderall/caffeine/pot/masturbation/porn/etc). Its been about a 7 days since I have quit.

Currently I am feeling the following symptoms from stopping unnatural dopamine releases (not really sure which are from adderall and which aren't):
hot/cold flashes
nausea
extreme anxiety
extremely emotional/moody (happy, sad, depressed, crying, angry)
horrible quality sleep
lowered appetite
inability to stay focused
suicidal thoughts (don't worry I deleted those thoughts from the brain immediately and am no longer having those thoughts)
and an overall constant uncomfortableness.

I have been exercising a lot and eating healthy to help combat the withdrawal symptoms but they are still affecting my life drastically. Anybody else here experience withdrawal symptoms from adderall? If so, what were they, how long did they last?

Withdrawal symptoms that I have experienced are irritability, anger, sleepiness, no desire to accomplish things, and laziness. Eventually I am back to my old self. I can say that I would rather be myself without the Adderall but my concentration without the Adderall is what I do not like. Those symptoms last for 3 days and I feel better.

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Withdrawal symptoms that I have experienced are irritability, anger, sleepiness, no desire to accomplish things, and laziness. Eventually I am back to my old self. I can say that I would rather be myself without the Adderall but my concentration without the Adderall is what I do not like. Those symptoms last for 3 days and I feel better.

I whole-heartedly agree. Irritability, fatigue, and lack of motivation are the withdrawal symptoms. These last 2-3 days max.

When I was taking Adderall IR, I was on 90mg (30mg x 3 per day). I have since switched to Vyvanse (120mg = 60mg x 2 per day).

I have always taken meds on an as-needed basis, so it's extremely rare for me to take them on weekends.

For various reasons, I have had many instances where I quit for several weeks at a time.

Whenever I quit, it's always cold turkey, and I've never had withdrawal symptoms last more than 3 days.

well consider yourself blessed my friend....I dont know how you can handle such dosage (mine is the same) and not be a total zombie on days you dont take it...because if I dont, I might as well never come out of the bedroom...something I cant afford with full time job and 3 kids to watch for!

Hello all,
I have add and was on adderall for a little over a year and a half. The entire time I was taking it I never felt that it was natural or good for me. I finally came to the conclusion that it would be more healthy for me to stop taking it as I was experiencing racing heart, irritability, agitation, etc. Moreso, it was a personal decision to stop all forms of unnatural dopamine releases (ie adderall/caffeine/pot/masturbation/porn/etc). Its been about a 7 days since I have quit.

Currently I am feeling the following symptoms from stopping unnatural dopamine releases (not really sure which are from adderall and which aren't):
hot/cold flashes
nausea
extreme anxiety
extremely emotional/moody (happy, sad, depressed, crying, angry)
horrible quality sleep
lowered appetite
inability to stay focused
suicidal thoughts (don't worry I deleted those thoughts from the brain immediately and am no longer having those thoughts)
and an overall constant uncomfortableness.

I have been exercising a lot and eating healthy to help combat the withdrawal symptoms but they are still affecting my life drastically. Anybody else here experience withdrawal symptoms from adderall? If so, what were they, how long did they last?

Due to unforeseen circumstances and severely reduced efficacy I had to sever my relationship with Adderall. I did so cold turkey.
I was on 15mg Adderall XR, and 5mg Adderall IR twice daily, with a third Adderall IR as needed.
I found the results to be terrible. I was consistently crying and experienced a depression unlike any I've had before (and I've had to stop a lot of mental medications cold turkey).
So in addition to the severe debilitating depression, I found myself with a lackadaisical attitude and severe insomnia. I also became hostile. Nightmares were prevalent and I would frequently go into cold sweats and hot flashes. Many times I felt like the passenger in my own body, with no escape, squirming to get out.
So my state was much like yours.
I found it to be very unpleasant.
The worst of it was gone after a couple of weeks but the depression didn't let up for about a month.
I don't believe you can really give it even a general time frame though, there are too many variables.
I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.

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@SearchingSally
Thanks for the insightful post. I can relate to what you mean by being a prisoner in your own body. Its a pretty scary feeling.

@ all
So its been 7 days and I am starting to feel good again, but it varies from day to day still. Tomorrow I could feel the symptoms again, just never know. I have found that exercise helps out tremendously (particularly cardio) as does taking melatonin at night (0.25mg) before bed (along with a hot shower).

If I don't get good sleep the night before then I feel extremely depressed the next day. The brain doesn't produce as much dopamine when you don't get a good night's sleep. So I believe this is a key factor in recovery.

Exercise!!!! Great source of natural mood enhancer. Huge amount of dopamine release. Aka the runners high. Who knows how long you are going to deal with the withdrawl effects. Its kinda like nicotine. Ive never smoked in my life but I had friends i hung with who did. Ive avoided smokers since HS, so 4 years ago. However to this day I still get nicotine crazings. Aint that a *****. I guess my point is that your body has been relying on it for long enough that it became a natural part. It was something your body learned to expect. You can try the natural substitutions. As far as withdrawls for me if I dont take it for 2 days, I get kinda ragy, tweaky, and hungry as hell. Im like the cookie monster at that point. Hope things get better for ya!

I had been taking adderal pretty regularlyfor about the past 3 years. The first year I started using 10-20 mgs per day and the last 2 years 40-80mgs per day and occasionally "binging" by taking 120 mgs on some days. Like most, I loved the concentration and alertness I received from adderal and the ability to have productive days as I have a grinding sales job. But the problem was, no matter what dosage I took-whether it was 10mgs or 60mgs, I could never fall asleep unless I took 10-20g of Valium so it was begining to really frustrate me as I realized that it was not good to keep taking both meds daily and I also became less focused on my job as time went on. I was wide awake but thinking about other things during the work-day.

I didnt really think I was addicted but last month I had ran out of valium and had no way to get any legally for a couple weeks. I had taken about 30 grams of adderall one day and with no valium on hand, proceded to stare at my ceiling with insomnia for 3 straight nights. I just could NOT fall asleep and forced myself to go to the Dr and tell him I need valium and will never take another adderall again. I tossed almost a full-script in the garbage. The first 3 nights that I stopped taking adderall, I felt the withdrawl symptons, very uncomfortable, irritable, hot/cold flashes but was sleeping better and now after going cold turkey for 21 straight days, taking vitamins, B6, B12, VC, 1000 mg Omega 3's, and working out daily, I almost feel back to "normal". But more importantly, I have no desire to ever take adderalll again because I know my body and I will not be able to sleep on adderall without Valium so I know that I have to stay off the substance because there is nothing I hated more then those sleepless nights.

I hope that in 2-3 months I won't feel the urge or "need" to take-one as others have mentioned that there "depression" and "lack of energy" continued for months after stopping adderrall use. For me, it was simply the fact that I hated the feeling that adderall was now giving me as opposed to the first year when I loved it...........I have no desire to take again. But let's see how my body feels in the coming months.

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I know you posted a while back. I felt similar to you about wanting off adderall and on a sim. combination of adderall, only about 15 mg - 20 mg ir a day
but not liking the rollercoaster effects. Taking klonopin, same class of meds as
valium. I hope you are doing well and have found life without adderall good.
Having a hard time getting off the klonopin. Did you find it hard to wean off valium? Any advice if you still check. Feliz

Does anyone know about IV Amino Acid therapy, also referred to as Neurotransmitter Restoration Therapy (NRT)?

I've been on stimulants (Adderall/Dexedrine) for the last ten years and finally decided I needed to get off of them. They didn't work nearly as well as in the past, not to mention the fact that there are no good Dexedrine options anymore (all the IR generics make me feel awful) and Adderall (Sandoz generic) works OK, but I feel a general malaise (and it seems to trigger mild OCD).

I was taking 90-120mg of Adderall IR per day, so going cold turkey didn't seem feasible (or safe) to me or my doctor. I've been doing a slow taper, going down 7.5mg a day, and over the last several months I've reduced my daily intake to 30mg/day. I'm in a bit of a holding pattern, though, because when I try to dose myself below 30mg, it's unbearable. I'm basically comatose, incapable of the most basic of tasks. It's as if the switch in my brain is in the 'off' position.

I'm looking for advice on anything that can help me get to the finish line of this Adderall detox. In this thread, things like B-50 and liver detox have been mentioned. I haven't tried those. I've read quite a few success stores involving IV amino therapy and was wondering if anyone had tried it or could give me any feedback on it. (Or any other ideas to help me kick this damn drug...)